Two weeks had passed, and two weeks had changed everything. Ryan had gone from working part time as the lowest main on the totem pole at the bowling alley to being one of three people running Michael Scott Paper Company to returning back to his old stomping grounds at Dunder Mifflin as a lowly temp working across from Meredith. No matter how depressing the changes in his employment were, they didn't even begin to compare to the gaping hole that Kelly's departure had left in his life. She wouldn't even look at him in the office. She only made a few perfunctory sarcastic comments his first day back before going back into silent mode. Toby guarded her closely, keeping him out of the annex any time he even attempted to venture back there. It was really starting to get on his nerves.

Ryan had spent his entire first paycheck from Ryan's failed paper company on flowers and other miscellaneous gifts for Kelly. She had accepted only the flowers, returning the unopened gifts back to his parents house without any sort of explanation. She called only once to check on him, refusing to talk to Ryan but asking his mother instead. He took it as a good signal that she still cared about him. He sent her a single text message every morning telling her that he missed her, that he knew he had messed up. She would never reply, but he knew that she read them.

He had been going to his meetings religiously, something that his parents monitored closely. His mother had taken special interest in his well-being since she had spoken with Kelly. She hadn't disappeared on any of her spa trips and was always home to have dinner with him. She had started going to support group meetings on Kelly's recommendations and actually tried to engage Ryan in conversations about his recovery. It was a small step to repair years of damage, but he appreciated how hard she was trying. It wasn't something either of them had done enough of, and it was time that they both recognize their part in what had happened between them.

However, the solace that he felt over his repairing relationship with his mother was of little comfort now as he sat behind his desk, watching Kelly hover over the reception desk and talked animately to Erin just a few feet away. Ryan glanced over at the new receptionist. She was pretty and unassuming, innocent and someone who tried to please everyone. If he had met her before Kelly, he was pretty sure that he would have a crush on her. However, as she leaned across the counter and gossiped with Kelly, he knew that she didn't start to compare to the bubbly customer service agent who had stolen his heart so effortlessly.

"Hey, Erin," he greeted the secretary softly before glancing up at the reason he had really sauntered over to the front desk. "Kel."

"Oh, hi, Ryan!" Erin replied enthusiastically. She was the only one who didn't know him and the only one who hadn't been affected by his wrongdoings. "How are you doing today?"

"I'm alright," he told her distractedly. His eyes never left Kelly, who was trying very hard to avoid his gaze. "Kel, can I talk to you for a minute? It's important."

She wanted to tell him that she didn't want to talk to him, that she didn't care if it was important. She was tired of caring so much about what happened to him. However, with that vulnerable tone and the pleading look in his beautiful blue eyes, she was done before he had even asked. "Yeah, let's take a walk," she retorted softly. "Erin, we're going to go around the corner and get some coffee. I'll be back in a little bit if Michael asks for me."

The shift in Kelly was evident whenever Ryan came around, Erin observed. She was usually carefree and spirited, but she slipped into a caretaker role whenever Ryan showed up. She was always asking Jim and Kevin questions about him, as if she was trying to make sure he was okay without ever having to talk to him. Erin knew very little about Ryan and the relationship that he had with Kelly. However, she liked Kelly and wanted her friendship. She just hoped that Ryan didn't drag her down to whatever depths Ryan lived in.

As soon as they were outside the building, Kelly turned to Ryan and looked at him long and hard. "I miss you, you know," she told him as they wandered down the sidewalk toward the small little bistro around the corner where he used to pick up lattes to surprise her every once in awhile. "It's been hard not talking to you, but you haven't said the one thing that I needed to hear."

"I was wrong."

"And?"

"I need to change pretty much everything about the person that I used to be," he admitted as he stopped and she perched on the edge of a park bench. "I have to start believing in myself or I don't deserve to have you believe in me. I know that I am a mess, Kel. I know that I have a lot I need to work on, but none of that is going to matter if you're not there to see the new me."

Kelly looked at him and shook her head sadly before coming over to slide her arms around his waist. She held him tightly to her for a long moment before peering up at him. "Ryan, you can't change for me," she murmured. "I don't even want you to. This has to be for you. Whoever you are going to be after all this, I'm going to be around to see it. I promised you that I wasn't going anywhere. You just can't treat me like you used to do. I deserve more than that."

He nodded solemnly and held her gaze. "Tell me that you love me."

"You need to say it first."

"This moment changes everything, Kel," he whispered. They were frozen there beneath a park bench on the side of a busy street, but they might as well be a world away in their own private oasis. He had always known he would have a moment like this with a girl, one where there would be no going back. He had spent a year without her and then two weeks more. Ryan hated the man that he was without her.

I humbly asked God to remove my shortcomings.

"I love you."

Kelly looked up at him and grinned. "I love you, too."

"I love you," he repeated. He should have told her that more often, but he was going to make up for it now. Leaning down, he swept her into a kiss that literally stole both their breaths away. As they pulled apart, her hand slid into his and squeezed his thin fingers tightly. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that more often, but I do love you, Kel. Even if I don't always say it as much as you need to hear it, I promise that I will love you for as long as I am still drawing breath."

"Oh, Ryan," she giggled. "You don't have to be so dramatic!"

"This coming from you?" he chuckled, bumping his hip against hers. "I know how much you love all that romance stuff. You can't fool me. You're all kinds of giddy inside, just thinking about how you're going to go home and Twitter about this later. You can pretend to be all cool, Kel, but I see that twinkle in your eyes. You're about ready to throw your arms around my neck and squeal about how sweet I am. Any minute now, you're going to be all mine."

Kelly laughed at his cocky demeanor and how both of them knew that he was dead on. She turned in his arms and threw her arms around his neck just to humor him. "I was already yours, Ryan, and we both know it," she giggled as she pressed her forehead to his. "We need to go back to work. Tonight, we are going to go to a meeting together. We are going to get some dinner in you. You might think I didn't notice, but you're losing weight. I'm not sure if it's from working out so much or from not eating or stress or whatever, but this is going to stop now."

"Did my mom tell you to say that or what?"

Ryan had no idea how often his mother had called Kelly and confided her concerns over the past two weeks. She knew that he was barely eating and that he had taken all his anxiety out on himself at the gym. "I know that you are working out or whatever, and I think that's great. You have to have an outlet, but you can't just let it become another addiction in your life. I see the pattern now before it's even started forming."

"Alright, I'll talk to my sponsor about it."

"Wait, just like that?"

"Addiction feeds addiction, Kel, you said it yourself," he admitted. It was something they had warned him about in treatment and in the meetings since. It was why he couldn't take a single drink, even though alcohol wasn't his addiction of choice. "There is something else I need you to help me do."

"What?"

"I am going to move out of my parents' house. It's not that I can't deal with living there. It's just that it's time. I need to start being responsible for myself again. I've saved up some money from the buyout," he told her. "I was hoping that you could go look at apartments with me on Saturday. Nothing big, near the office, you know? I want to be in driving distance to your place and to my parents' house. I feel like there are a lot of things I need to work on."

"There are," she acknowledged, "but we can figure out what we need to do to make things right again. I promised you a long time ago that you weren't going to have to go through this alone."

"I'm tired of being alone, Kel," he murmured. "I don't do so well without you."

"Yeah, well, the feeling is mutual," she confessed with a light giggle. "Why don't you walk me back to the office? I think that it's about time that we finally tell people that we're back together. I'm not going to keep on pretending that I hate you when it couldn't be further from the truth."

"I'm kind of tired of all the lies," Ryan agreed. "I really am sorry, Kel, for everything."

"New beginning," she promised him.

When they got back to the office, Ryan disappeared into Michael's office while Kelly ventured back to talk to Toby. Papers were drawn up for their official signature, while Michael was appraised of the situation. Ryan's boss was excited for him and celebrated his reunion with Kelly with an overly enthusiastic and tight hug. Ryan knew that he would appreciate being the first one to know, and as awkward and uncomfortable as Michael often made him feel, the older man had been a good friend to him. He was nearly in tears as he celebrated the exciting reunion of his best friend and his favorite ethnic girl in the office. Ryan found it almost sweet but still mostly creepy.

"Conference room, five minutes!" Michael announced as he followed Ryan out of his office.

Kelly stuck her head around the corner and waved Ryan back toward the annex. It only took a pair of signatures on a piece of Dunder Mifflin letterhead to make it official. Toby rolled his eyes as Kelly squealed excitedly and Ryan grinned genuinely. It was like Jim and Pam all over again, only this time he didn't want to kill the temp for stealing the girl of his dreams.

It took nearly ten minutes to get everyone filed into the room and in their seats. Michael was like a little kid bursting at the seams on Christmas morning. There were pictures of famous couples from classic romantic comedies posted to the wall. Jim was next to Pam, whispering quietly and probably wondering if they were about to be put on display.

"Pretty Woman, When Harry Met Sally, Ten Things I Hate About You." Michael paused for dramatic effect as he looked at his loyal employees. "Some of the greatest romance tales ever told. And now, our little office has its own real-life romantic comedy."

"Michael..." Jim started to warn.

"Okay, Paris Hilton, it's not all about you," Michael rolled his eyes before looking over at Ryan and winking. Ryan couldn't help but love seeing Jim put in his place, even if it was the tiniest thing. Their power struggle was still alive and well. "Actually, our real Romeo and Juliet are Kelly and Ryan."

"The Claire Danes version," Ryan piped up.

"Wait, so you two are back together?" Angela asked pointedly, her glare making it clear that she neither approved nor appreciated their reunion.

Kelly smiled at Angela with a sickeningly sweet grin. "Yup."

"Why did we have to have a meeting over this?" Stanley asked, looking up from his crossword puzzle.

"Because I am dealing with everything in the open," Ryan announced. "Look, I know it's weird, I just wanted to put this out there. We all know that I'm a recovering addict. I treated Kelly like shit. I messed up and was an ass to everyone. But I am trying to make it up to everyone, especially her."

Michael waved his hand dismissively. "Ryan, you don't need to be forgiven. You are our friend. You are our family. We love you. You're safe here."

"This is ridiculous," Dwight spoke up.

Toby couldn't believe he was about to do this. "I actually agree with Michael. It's really important that we show Ryan our support. Whatever has happened in the past, he is still an employee here. This needs to be a positive working environment for everyone."

Michael was ready to snap at Toby but quickly backed down when he realized that he was actually being supportive. "You all heard him," he declared. "Back to work."

Ryan reached for Kelly's hand as he walked her back to the annex. "I'll see you later for lunch, right?"

"Yeah," she giggled before kissing him.

"Hey, guys," Toby said, peeking his head over the divider between his workspace and Kelly's. "That's still not appropriate."

"Oh, come on, Toby," Ryan laughed. "You can't deny young love!"